Remembered

Champ...

Champion AKA "Champ" comes to GRR from loving owners who had to make the difficult choice to give up one of their dogs due to having more dogs than their city allowed.  He is a wonderful 10 year old who is very sweet and had lots of love to share.
 

Champ Remembered:

-----Original Message-----
From: Cam Snyder
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 8:43 PM

Subject: Remembering Champ

Champ, GRR 02-143, passed away Monday, March 21, 2005. His hips had been giving him trouble for several weeks and they became much worse over the preceding Friday and Saturday. Sunday evening, he could no longer support himself for any length of time and so the next morning, I felt it was time to let him go.


Champ came to my house between Christmas and New Years of 2002, and was the best Christmas present anyone could receive. He was surrendered to GRR by a family who was being harassed by one of their neighbors because they had exceeded the number of dogs allowed under their neighborhood rules. Champ was very overweight, I think about 115 pounds, and had terrible ear infections, but they had loved him very much, and he certainly showed it. His weight and ears improved with diet and treatment, and eventually he slimmed down to 90 pounds.

Many years ago, back in college, I had a friend whose grandparents lived in a small house in a small town. They had raised their children, seen their grandchildren and great grandchildren born. They knew they were beyond the active, adventurous, tumultuous parts of their lives and had settled into a peaceful existence and were the most content people I've ever met. Accepting of everyone, they loved visitors and would cook wonderful meals for anyone that came to their table, and I never heard them complain or speak badly of anyone. Champ was of the same cloth, just in canine four-legged form. As they have served as a reference point in life for me, so I think Champ will.

But we did have a rocky start: the morning of Champ's first trip to the vet for his pre-adoption check up, he raced out into the back yard, and promptly gobbled up a large pile of poop (something he never did again, but I didn't know that yet). The vet thought this was a huge joke and was laughing about "Well, Champ, that's not on you diet." So on the way home, he barfed in the car. I was thinking to myself "Did I sign anything yet? Don't I have three days to get out of a contract?" It turns out he would barf in the car now and then, it just came with the territory.

But what a wonderful dog he turned out to be. Big and handsome, with a coat that was straight and went in one direction in one spot, and was curly in another direction just a few inches away. He was like a giant stuffed toy and loved to be hugged.

He had an inner calmness that was amazing, he was so strong, but he never used his strength to push his way around. He had very loving big brown eyes and a smile that was exceptional, and would wink a people now and then with his right eye.

Champ started his days by stretching out as far as he could on the living room rug, then lying on his back kicking his legs in the air and rubbing the sides of his face with his big front paws. He loved to have someone throw a chew toy, so he could leap up on his back legs and pounce on it with his big front paws, just like a puppy.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, not from bad dreams, just wide awake, so I read for a while to go back to sleep. After a few minutes, Champ would mosey into the living room, plop down on the floor and smile, and I would end up talking to him. Just the two of us, very relaxed - my favorites time with him.

Champ was thunderstorm phobic. It took a combination of medications, work and patience to get him through them. He would try to fit himself in the smallest possible space, at least for a few minutes, when he would try to find another smaller space. Probably the worst time was when he jumped on the bed and tried to dig a hole in the mattress.

He loved car rides, ear scratches, tummy rubs, taking naps and all the things a dog could love.

There is a silver lining to his passing. He had been diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis last year, and I was very worried that this summer could be rough on him, possibly bad enough to trigger a serious attack. So knowing that he passed peacefully may be a comfort to everyone that loved him. What a wonderful fellow he was.


 

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